The top reported proficiency rate is 81% in Math. The lowest is 71% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Havens Elementary
Havens Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Piedmont, a small, prosperous residential city entirely surrounded by Oakland in the Oakland Hills. The school sits on Highland Avenue near the city's civic center, close to the library, parks, and downtown government buildings. Piedmont's entire housing stock is dominated by early-20th-century single-family homes on tree-lined streets; the overwhelming majority of the land is zoned for residential use, and commercial activity is minimal and confined to two small zones. This setting shapes the school's demographics and the economic backdrop families should understand.
Havens serves an enrollment of about four hundred students, the great majority of whom come from white and Asian households, with a multiracial cohort also present. Very few students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the town's affluence. State test data for 2024-25 shows proficiency rates well above the statewide pattern. In math, third graders and fourth graders achieved proficiency at notably high levels; fifth graders' performance was also strong, though slightly lower than the upper grades. In English language arts, third and fifth graders performed at high rates while fourth graders' results were somewhat lower. A small fifth-grade science cohort showed solid proficiency. Across tested grades and subjects, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile relative to districts across Alameda County.
The district has recently overhauled its reading instruction approach. Havens now uses Sadlier's "Reading into Phonics" as the foundational curriculum for kindergarten through grade three, moving to Spellography in grades four and five, paired with Fishtank ELA for reading and writing instruction across the entire elementary band. Three times yearly, students are assessed with DIBELS to screen for reading difficulties and track progress. This shift toward science-of-reading phonics methods is now district-wide across all three Piedmont elementary schools and represents a substantial change in how children are taught to decode and spell. For families with young readers, this structured phonics approach is now the instructional reality.
The school's strengths rest on solid proficiency results and a staff retained through deliberate local investment. In November 2024, Piedmont voters approved Measure P, a new property tax dedicated to teacher recruitment and retention. This followed the district's earlier cuts and staff reductions and reflected genuine budget pressure. Measure H, approved in June 2026, extended an existing parcel tax that, together with other local levies, funds roughly one-third of the district budget. For families, this signals both the school's commitment to staffing and the reality that Piedmont's program breadth in arts, technology, and STEM depends on locally approved recurring property taxes, making the district's funding model distinct and dependent on voter renewal.
Havens is a school well-suited to families seeking solid elementary proficiency in a leafy, affluent residential community with active parent engagement and strong local commitment to schools. The school's student body is predominantly white and Asian, though multiracial enrollment is also meaningful. Very few students are from low-income backgrounds. Class sizes and breadth of programming are underpinned by parcel tax revenue, a factor worth weighing alongside the school's demonstrated academic performance.
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